A TRIP TO NORWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19418, 28 August 1926, Page 11

A TRIP TO NORWAY.

NEW ZEALANDERS' HOLIDAY. IMPRESSIONS OF PEOPLE, THE FAR-FAMED FJORDS. [from our own correspondent.] LONDON. July 10. Sir Thomas Mackenzie arid his daughter, Mrs. A. V. McDonald, have returned from Norway, where they went for a short health cruise. They have both returned feeling benefited by the trip, having thoroughly enjoyed their visit to a part of Europe previously tinknown to them. Norway is essentially a place for a summer holiday. There are nearly 24 hours of daylight, and the air is so invigorating that physical fatiguo is scarcely felt. The smooth waters of the fjords run far inland and give the. traveller by sea an unusual oportunity of seeing the interior of the country. The scenery is beautiful and varied. Steep, barren mountain sides run dow\i to fertile valleys. Waterfalls tumble headlong down the hillsides into swift-running salmon rivers at the foot. Away up on the distant hills there is a wealth of rainbow-coloured glaciers and blue frozen lakes. The roads are good and many expeditions inland are possible, if desired. Of course, since his return Sir Thomas lias been asked by many how the sounds and the fjords of Norway compare with those of New Zealand, and he finds it difficult to express an opihion off-hand. The fjords of Norway are certainly far more extensive, and they are exceedingly lovely. The country also possesses many features .of interest quite different from New Zealand, but Sir Thomas says decisively that ho saw nothing to equal Milford Sound and Hall's- Ai •m on New Zealand's western coast.

" Norway, of course, has a charm of its own, and it is not without romance," he says. " One can picture the old Vikings sallying forth to raid the islands and the mainland of Britain, and many interesting stories can be read about these exciting expeditions. There is very little of that nature known about New Zealand. Norway, however, had nothing to equal our Sutherland Falls, or our glaciers, and certainly nothing to surpass their grandeur. Our country, too, is much loftier, for whereas the highest Norwegian peak is 8000 ft., ours immediately behind Milford rears up to 9000 ft., and in addition we have the Southern Alps ranging from 12,000 to 13,000 ft. Of course, the high lands of Norway are not immediately in the vicinity of the fjords but. are some distance inland. Our flora, too, is incomparably more beautiful —take the rata at Christmas time, which is quite without any equal." And, then, wo have tho stately tree ferns and graceful palms (so-called). I saw no really fine trees at all in Norway."

An Attractive People. With the people Sir Thomas was much charmed. They are nearly all fair-haired —and the hair of the women and girls is beautiful. They have fair skins and lovely complexions, with blue eyas, and they are outstandingly honest and courteous. For instance, wandering along an inland path, Sir Thomas and his daughter met a boy and girl about nine and eleven, who had flowers to sell. When a Norwegian is satisfied with a bargain he extends his hand and shakes yours. This the lad did when the travellers had purchased some flowers, giving at the same time a stately and courteous bow in acknowledgment. Other features, too, struck them very much. For instance, in Bergeir, the people who have fish to sell keep their stock alive in large tanks, and the housewife, when she desires a dainty morsel, makes her choice from the swimming fish. This is duly taken out of the tank for her, and she goes away satisfied that she really has got what she has paid for. Norway, it may not be generally known, was under the control of the Hanseatic League, a formidable trading confederation, for some centuries, and it is said that the people were considerably oppressed by the Germans. Sir Thomas was shown the old Prussian house, among whoso objects of interest are old scales which were used for buying, and also scales which were used for selling. Those for buying had extra lead added to them, while 'those for selling were below the weight. Visitors gathei* that the people have no love for their old Prussian masters. The place ia shown where the Kaiser was spending his holiday at the time war broke out; from this place ho hurried back to Berlin. It is pretty evident that the Norwegians have no desire whatever to see the Kaiser back again in their waters.

The World's Smallness. During an inland walk which Sir Thomas was taking with a fellow passenger they were not quite sure of their direction, so they decided to stop an elderly Norwegian, who looked as if he might know a little English, for, of course, the tourists did not speak the language of the country. Tho friend asked his question regarding direction, and the Norwegian turned round, looked quietly at Sir Thomas, and said: "Aren't you Mr. Mackenzie ?" Sir Thomas, of course-, admitted his identity, but he does not know why his name "or his personality happened to be familiar to t.he Norwegian. The old man was deaf, so no further time was spent in conversation. Sir Thomas is much impressed by-the fact that every inch of the land is used up and built upon. The cottages of the country folk, indeed, are built far up the ranges. Wherever there is a bit of level space to erect a cottage, a cottage is built and the people drive their cattle from the rocky shore right up to these places. It must be a very moist climate, because the people were cutting their hay and all the farmers have a framework upon which they spread their crop to dry, these frames being like post and rail fences, only much lighter. He was impressed, too, by the splendid engineering that had been displayed in the formation of the roads. Up almost impassable precipices these roads have been taken and beautifully graded, rising from two to three thousand feet above the level of the fjords, and on realising what had been achieved in this connection Sir Thomas felt that it should be possible for New Zealand engineers to construct similar splendid roads upon the high lands at the back of the southern lake country.